Dissolve Me
by aleexmariee
Summary: Armin's version of events in Episode 24 where Eren is convinced that Annie is the female titan. Diverges from canon somewhat at the end.


**_A bit of Aruani, basically Armin's commentary on some events in Episode 24; the bit that is different is near the bottom. But this is basically my all time Aruani headcanon so I had to write it! _**

_Dissolve Me_

"Armin figured it all out." And he wished he hadn't. He hated it, _hated _when all the pieces had come together in his head. He'd broken down, unable to stop the surge of emotions that had seized him as his knuckles became bloody from punching his wall until exhaustion; trying desperately not to let out the screams that might alert his friends to the problem.

It was two days before Armin decided he could be calm enough to inform Erwin of what he knew.

"She's also suspected of killing those two captive Titans." It should have been obvious, from the moment he noticed her using Marco's gear. He wondered when his mind had become so twisted that he actually considered whether she'd killed Marco herself. The thought made him want to retch.

"She might be your former fellow cadet from the 104th."

Eren's eyes widened and he flinched visibly. "Hold on! The 104th?" It must really be obvious who Erwin was talking about just from that, but innocence still shone in Eren's expression. He didn't want to hear it either. He didn't want to accept it.

"The name of the woman suspected to be the female-form is…" Armin clenched his fist under the table. There was no going back after this. Once Erwin said her name that was it. She was an enemy of the Scouting Legion. She was an enemy of Armin's.

"Wait…" But Eren couldn't stop this any more than Armin could.

"Annie Leonhardt."

Armin gulped, his expression otherwise unmoving. He'd accepted this some time ago, but the sound of her name said aloud still made his eyes sting and his skin burn. It was some awful combination of betrayal and regret.

"Annie's the female titan?" Eren sounded almost more shocked than Armin had been. Perhaps it was because Armin should have known, maybe he _had _known deep down but had refused to accept it until now. "Why? Why do you think that Armin?"

He'd wanted nothing more to be ignored throughout the whole of this meeting. Couldn't Eren have just asked Erwin to explain it? Armin wasn't sure he could maintain a steady voice. "The female titan knew what Eren looked like from the start." _Knew what I'd looked like_. "Furthermore, she reacted upon hearing Eren's nickname, "the reckless idiot", when only our generation should know about it. And above all else-" _She let me live. She spared me. _"-Annie was likely responsible for the murders of Sonny and Bean, the test subjects."

"How can you be sure about that?" It took significant effort for Armin not to snap. Did Eren think he hadn't been over this a million times? That he wouldn't have given _anything _for this to not be true?

"Advanced techniques were required to pull off those murders." The word drilled at Armin's conscious. _Murders._ "So she must have used her own 3-D Manoeuvre gear, which she's proficient with."

"Yeah...but that's what the equipment inspection was for. Annie came out clean." Eren was obviously still unconvinced. Armin was going to have to go through the entire torturous reasoning. Explain everything. Imply Marco's murder. He was starting to think he shouldn't have been here. He should have left everything to Erwin.

Armin paused, preparing himself before saying the next words. "That was because the gear was Marco's." He was so _stupid_. How many times had he laid in her arms after that day, completely oblivious? He should have _known_. He should have prevented this. "It's the reason she got past the inspection."

"Huh? What are you saying? How is Marco involved in this?" Eren stammered over his words. He understood exactly what Armin was suggesting.

"I don't know." That was something he'd never be able to say aloud. Even this was said as just a whisper. He almost couldn't believe it. He didn't believe it. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't.

"Couldn't you have just been seeing things?"

Armin bristled. "No." He denied immediately. "That was definitely something I-"

"Hey, kid, we already heard that." He was more than grateful for the Corporal's interruption. Maybe that would be the last time he'd have to speak and he could retire to his room, let out the tears that were barely stinging the corners of his eyes. "Isn't there anything else?"

"Not that I know of." Of course there were many things, but Armin didn't have the heart to say them. Not now. He'd done more than enough.

Mikasa introduced the idea of facial similarities, which was true enough. Eren's nerve to dispute every piece of evidence had Armin clenching his fists under the table. It wasn't his place to decide, to argue against this. If Armin had accepted it, if _he _couldn't find enough to contest the information, then it was obviously true.

"No evidence?" Eren all but screamed. "What's with that?" Just because it wasn't hard evidence didn't mean it wasn't obvious. Everyone knew it. Armin knew it. Annie _was _the female form. "Why are you doing it then?" Because there was no choice. Because humanity had mattered more than Annie had to Armin, in the end. "What will you do if it's not her?"

"If it's not Annie, she'll simply be cleared of suspicion." It wasn't going to happen. They might not even capture her in the first place; this thought had been a prominent one in Armin's head. _She might not have to die. "_Should that be the case, I'll feel sorry for Annie." Should that be the case, Armin wouldn't be able to live with himself for betraying her. But he knew it wasn't. It wasn't the case at all. "However...if we do nothing because we have no evidence, you'll just end up becoming Central's sacrifice."

"Suspecting someone like Annie is ridiculous."

Armin's nails dug into his hand painfully under the table, but still his face was calm. He wondered when he'd learnt this skill.

"Eren, has anything come to mind after hearing all of this?" Mikasa was just as certain as Armin and equally as annoyed he had to be so loyal in defending her.

Eren's face gave away that it had. He knew it was true, too, even if he couldn't bring himself to accept it.

"When you fought hand-to-hand with the female titan, did it use any techniques that are unique to Annie? You realise now, don't you?" Mikasa had won, surely. Eren's face was pure pain. He knew they were all right. "The female titan is Annie." Armin glanced away at that sentence. His misery laid out in five simple words. "In that case, shouldn't you be fighting?" Mikasa knew how to push Eren's buttons. He would submit to her. This meeting could finally be over. "Or...is some particular emotion hindering you?" They hadn't been the words Armin had expected, but he studied Eren closer. Could he? The thought only angered Armin, he wasn't jealous, as such, but how did Eren dare to pretend that he cared more? That he cared more than _Armin_ about Annie? It was ridiculous.

"Huh?" So Mikasa was right, and it left Armin fuming silently in his seat. This meeting should have been over a long time ago. Eren didn't have the right to protest this information. "But we just have no evidence." Eren reiterated, his voice even more determined than before, despite his argument getting weaker.

Armin listened to Mikasa and Eren bicker about this for another five minutes before raising out of his chair and slamming his hands down on the table. "Stand up." He ordered Eren, voice not sounding even remotely like his own. It was too cold. Too angry. Too much like someone who didn't have positive emotions any more.

"What?" Eren questioned, obviously taken aback.

"Stand. Up." Armin enunciated his words clearly, staring Eren down with furious eyes.

Eren was surprised enough to do as Armin said. Armin moved, coming to stand in a space between tables. It was big enough to do what he wanted. He beckoned for Eren to come and stand opposite him.

"What are you doing?" Eren demanded, voice still high-pitched and annoyed at the accusations against Annie.

When they were stood facing each other, Armin raised his arms in the way Annie had taught him. He hoped this didn't fail now. If he embarrassed himself he didn't think he'd be able to take it. "Do I resemble the female titan? Do I resemble _Annie_?" Armin spat the words, hands still in Annie's trademark position.

Eren spluttered. "What are you talking about?"

"Spar with me." Armin demanded, eyes hard as he refused to back down. "Now."

"No." Eren denied immediately. "What are you doing, Armin?"

"Spar with me." He repeated, stance still perfect.

Eren took a deep breath before aiming a punch straight for Armin's face; he was obviously not too disappointed at having an outlet for his anger.

But Armin knew what to do. He and Annie had done this countless times, until Armin had actually beaten his sparring partner a handful of times.

He lifted his leg and it connected, not nearly as powerful as it could have been, but enough for Eren to stumble and fall over, holding his jaw and cursing. He'd pulled off the manoeuvre perfectly. Exactly as they'd practised on those long evenings during his training days. Those evenings that they'd trained instead of losing their clothes and enjoying each other's bodies in a different way. Armin blinked away his thoughts.

Armin knew all eyes were on him, but he only stared at Eren, face void of emotion, back to his normal stature of an almost slouch. "Annie is the female titan." He reiterated. It was a statement; it didn't waver, there was no doubt. Not even an inflection in his voice.

Annie had told him to only use it in emergencies. _Never tell anyone. _She had warned. _Only if it's an emergency. _Armin resisted the urge to slam his fist against the wall and let out a guttural noise. What could be more of an emergency than finding out the girl he loved was everything he despised? She had murdered his friends. She wanted to capture his best friend. She wanted the destruction of humanity. Armin didn't owe Annie anything; didn't owe her this secret.

Armin kept Eren's eye contact for only a second longer before exiting the room. He had to get out of there, before he cried. He couldn't cry in front of them. But he knew he'd done enough. Eren believed him. There was no way he couldn't.

Now there was just capturing Annie to contend with.


End file.
